45 dead as jet swerves off Madrid airport runway

Firebird2XC

Well-Known Member
Just snaked this off Yahoo! news.

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By HAROLD HECKLE, Associated Press Writer 1 minute ago

MADRID, Spain - A Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands swerved off the runway and caught fire during takeoff from the Madrid airport on Wednesday, killing at least 45 people, the Interior Ministry said.

Nineteen of the 173 people on board were seriously injured, according to statements from the airline and the ministry.
It is the height of the summer tourist season in Spain and Spanair flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a popular resort off West Africa, the company said.
Thick, white smoke rose above Barajas airport as helicopters and fire trucks dumped water on the plane, which ended up in a wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4.
An official with the Madrid emergency rescue service SAMUR said crews were removing injured people and bodies from the MD-80, calling it a "catastrophe." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give his name.
The plane was an MD-82 carrying 173 people, Spanair said.
The newspaper El Pais said the plane was delayed an hour by technical problems. It managed to get slightly off the ground but crashed near the end of the runway, the paper said.



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RIP to the fallen. :(
 
yikes. Jtrain and I are going to be making that same hop from Madrid to the Canary Islands in just over a month... *fingers crossed*
 
Worst accident in 25 years (in spanish airspace). I'm listening to the spanish tv, new reports tell of more than 140 people dead :(
 
Now it is apparently 147 Dead... RIP
"[FONT=Verdana,Sans-serif] MADRID, Spain (AP) - A Spanish emergency rescue official says there are only 26 survivors after an airliner with 173 people aboard crashed on takeoff from Madrid's airport."[/FONT]
 
:(:(
RIP We have flown Spanair alot
My wife was heading for Madrid tomorrow and connecting with a Zed fair on Spanair.
CNN is saying that it might have been an engine fire, and that it skidded off the runway. Late Abort??
 
News reports from eyewitnesses, suggest an engine fire on the MD-82's left engine immediately before lifting off, a height gain of 200ft and then crashing into ground and bursting into flames. Apparently a 2nd attempted t/o after a previous aborted t/o caused a technical inspection.
Very sad.
RIP
 
We'll find out when the Spanish version of the NTSB does its work.

Until then, all we can say is it's a horrible accident.

Oh the US NTSB will be out there, they go out to practically all major transportation accidents worldwide.
 
Oh the US NTSB will be out there, they go out to practically all major transportation accidents worldwide.

Eh, the U.S. will send a investigation party to this accident because it was a U.S.-made aircraft involved. I don't think they get involved in every accident worldwide.
 
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